New state-of-the-art skate space opens soon

The inner west’s newest skate space, in Sydenham Green, will be officially opened by Inner West Mayor Darcy Byrne on Saturday 10 February.

The official opening, at Sydenham Green, cnr Railway Road and Henry Street, 11am-1pm, includes a free barbecue and skate demonstrations. All welcome.

Media are invited to attend.

Incorporating a variety of skate types including transition, street skate and a bowl, the new $2 million facility also has parking, accessible car spaces, lighting, shade structure, drinking fountain and seating.

“Too often, the voices of young people are ignored,” said Mayor Byrne.

“Here we have a project that they have helped design and which has now been delivered – a state-of-the-art facility that will be used by young people not just from across the inner west, but also the whole of Sydney,” he said.

The skate space also boasts many environmentally-and-community-minded features:

• ‘Green concrete’, lowering the amount of non-renewable energy intensive Portland cement by up to 65%

• Inclusive design - including ramps to all platforms, which was developed with Wheel Chair Motor-cross sports

• LED lighting, minimising electricity consumption

• More than 20 trees, increasing the urban tree canopy

Trent Evans from Sydney Skateboard Association said, “I can’t believe how exciting this is. Finally somewhere in semi-central Sydney is going to have an up-to-date skate park…the proper first skate park in the inner west. This is literally going to be a game changer for so many skateboarders in Sydney.”

The design, which “looks incredible” according to Trent, was developed with extensive community and stakeholder input over multiple consultation sessions.

Other recent and planned improvements at Sydenham Green include a new playground shade structure, and replacing the half-court basketball court with two full sized basketball courts with Roller Derby track line marking.

As well, Council is developing an interpretive space on the site of the former church on Railway Road.